dBMEDx Inc.

• Author: Peterson, Eric
• Position: COMPANY

INITIAL LIGHT BULB Ultrasound expert Bill Barnard came up with a new scanner that's easier for medical professionals to use and less invasive for patients. He teamed up with David Shine and Dr. Bill Quirk to launch dBMEDx.

"Bill had worked for many years on a device that would detect the volume of a patient's bladder," says Shine. Barnard's "creative architecture" became the linchpin of dBMEDx's hand-held ultrasound technology.

Shine serves as the CEO of dBMEDx while Barnard is the Seattle-based CTO, and Quirk functions as the company's chief medical officer.

IN A NUTSHELL dBMEDx is making user-friendly, mobile ultrasound scanners that will first be used for bladder scans and then transitioned into a wide range of diagnostic applications.

"I use ultrasound every day," says Quirk, a physician at Porter Adventist Hospital in Denver and one of the original investors in iTriage. "In my world, ultrasound is operator-dependent"--meaning only doctors are qualified and cleared to use it.

This isn't the case with dBMEDx's scanners, which can be used by technicians and emergency responders. "We want to make it operator-independent," says Quirk. "You don't have to have M.D. or Ph.D. after your name to use it."

Echoes Shine: "That's the power of this thing--it requires very little training and very little expertise."

More power comes in a seamless interface with iPads and other devices, resulting in significant improvements in productivity and efficiency, not to mention medical efficacy.

With user-friendliness comes better treatment, as ambulance drivers are able to provide diagnostic data while en route to...